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[Sickboy007]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnlvPsPyPKk

The Word Huh? Is Used In Languages Around The World

When communicating that what is said has not been understood, the word Huh? provides a universal message. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands discovered the value of the little word by examining 196 audio recordings of informal conversations in 10 languages

The little word "Huh?" that implies not hearing or not understanding what someone has just said has been found in languages around the world, according to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands.

While it might seem frivolous to do research on a word like "huh?," the discovery that the little word is similar in form and function in languages of vastly different cultures on five continents is a key finding in human communication, researchers Mark Dingemanse, Francisco Torreira and Nick Enfield reported in their study, "Is 'Huh?' a Universal Word: Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Terms," published in the Nov. 8 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
....
"Without words like this we would be unable to signal when we have problems with hearing or understanding what was said and our conversations would be constantly derailed by communicative mishaps," the researchers write. "Human communication, and thus common understanding in social life, relies heavily on the use of such linguistic devices."

The research was done by examining 196 instances of "Huh?" from recordings of informal conversations in 10 languages: Siwu, a minority language spoken in Ghana; Cha'palaa, a minority language spoken in Ecuador, Murriny Patha, an Australian Aboriginal language; Lao, spoken in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia; Icelandic, Italian, Mandarin, Chinese, Spanish, and Dutch.

The research included only the word "Huh?" used in the same context in the different languages.

While "Huh?" may be seen as a filler word, little more than what's called a "conversational grunt," like "mm-hmm," it plays a crucial role in conversations, Herbert Clark, a psychologist at Stanford University, said in a Nov. 9 article in the Los Angeles Times.

"When one person misses a bit of information and the line of communication breaks, there needs to be a quick, easy and effective way to fix it," said Clark, who did not participate in the study.

"You can't have a conversation without the ability to make repairs," said Clark, "It is a universal need, no matter what kind of conversation you have."

The researchers from the Max Planck Institute in the Netherlands went to remote villages around the world to record natural conversations, linguistic anthropologist Nick Enfield, one of the investigators on the study, told the Los Angeles Times.

"The kind of conversations we collected were just the kind of conversations you and I would have at the breakfast table or in the evening when we're doing our handicrafts," Enfield told the Los Angeles Times.

The study of "Huh?" by the researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics is part of larger project funded by the European Research Council to investigate language and social interaction.

http://huh.ideophone.org/

http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/6292/20131109/researchers-discover-huh-means-around-globe.htm

 

[Air]

What?

 

[Alric]

Coke

 

[Kinyou]

Okay

 

[Sickboy007]

Coke

That's not so universal, people call it Coke, Cola, Coca etc

And it's a name.

 

[Kaladin]

No

 

[Delicious Waffles]

I use "huh?" quite a bit. Goes along well with my favorite phrase "I don't know."

 

[Yoshichan]

Sarusarusarusarusarusaru?!

 

[Doctor Ninja]

This contradicts another study where they found that "Mama" and "papa" are the most common words in the world. I'll try to find it and link it here.

 

[Prophet Steve]

Coke

Nope, coke is not used here in the Netherlands except as for an abbreviation of cocaine. So I would not be surprised if the word is not used at all in many languages.

 

[Sickboy007]

This contradicts another study where they found that "Mama" and "papa" are the most common words in the world. I'll try to find it and link it here.

It might be because other studies didn't consider "Huh" as a word, to which they counter that:

Huh? is a word. An objection to our first finding might be that ‘Huh?’ is not a word after all. But our study finds that it is. Although the expression ‘Huh?’ is much more similar across languages than words normally should be, when we zoomed in and looked at the finer details, we discovered that this expression does differ across languages in subtle but systematic ways. These differences give us evidence that ‘Huh?’ is integrated into each linguistic system, thus supporting the view that it is, in fact, a word. Here are some of the subtle differences: In Spanish it’s e. In Dutch it often starts with /h/, as in hè. In Cha’palaa (an indigenous language of Ecuador) it has a falling tone and often starts with a glottal stop, as in ʔa Therefore: Huh? is not like those human sounds that happen to be universal because they are innate, such as sneezing or crying. It is a word that has to be learned in subtly different forms in each language.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Seems more like a universal sound to emote a feeling. Like 'ugh'.

 

[SBH]

Häh?

 

[waypoetic]

Sarusarusarusarusarusaru?!

Varåråråårårå?!

 

[sakipon]

I think 10 languages is a rather small sample to make any final decisions on universal words.

 

[PotionBleue]

So it's pronounced and written completely differently and they consider it an universal word?

Like, tomorrow I'm announcing "HAHAHA" is an universal word just because most people can laugh? >___>

Why do these differences between the sounds of words across languages occur? It's because language does not impose any necessary connection between sound and meaning in words. This study shows that 'Huh?' is a rare exception to this otherwise strong rule."

Yeah right, but your map contradicts what you're saying… this article is nonsense.

 

[OneEightZero]

So it's pronounced and written completely differently and they consider it an universal word?

This is what you're looking for from the article.

In all of the languages, we found that ‘huh?’ showed the same tight fit of form and function. Everywhere this word appears to be a simple syllable with a low-front central vowel, glottal onset consonant if any, and questioning intonation. This made us confident that our preliminary observations warranted a careful comparative phonetic analysis.

Forget how it's written. Writing doesn't matter when concerning speech. The low-front vowel with the glottal is what should be focused on.

 

[b&jy77VjiKn$#F]

Hả?

 

[SolsticeZero]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Does that count?

 

[(mat)]

I thought "Ow!" was the universal word.

 

[OneEightZero]

I thought "Ow!" was the universal word.

The concept of "ow" is probably universal.

Not every language uses it, though.

 

[Azih]

The concept of "ow" is probably universal.

Not every language uses it, though.

Urdu/Hindi has 'Ai!' for 'Ow!'

 

[javac]

Tim Allen is the most universal man confirmed.

 

[Lord Ghirahim]

It's not a universal word.

 

[VivaciousSoul]

While I'm not trying to make the claim that okay is universal, I hear it a lot. It's almost unsettling to hear a language that you don't understand and out of nowhere pops okay. I'm on the verge of thinking hey... hey! that's not your word. But who am I to try to hold onto possession of a word.

 

[Strax]

So it's pronounced and written completely differently and they consider it an universal word?

Like, tomorrow I'm announcing "HAHAHA" is an universal word just because most people can laugh? >___>


Yeah right, but your map contradicts what you're saying… this article is nonsense.

Everybody in Iceland would understand the meaning of "huh" so the map is nonsense.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Eh?

 

[zma1013]

The worst is when you start speaking and before you even finish the first word someone's like "Huh?" I want to say, "HOW ABOUT YOU LET ME FINISH THE DAMN SENTENCE BEFORE ASKING ME WHAT I JUST SAID?!?!"

 

[daviyoung]

Words in the phonetic alphabet are practically universal aren't they?

 

[Manu]

The worst is when you start speaking and before you even finish the first word someone's like "Huh?" I want to say, "HOW ABOUT YOU LET ME FINISH THE DAMN SENTENCE BEFORE ASKING ME WHAT I JUST SAID?!?!"

I'm guessing you worked in customer care at some point?

 

[zma1013]

I'm guessing you worked in customer care at some point?

It's actually certain people in my life that do it. It's very irritating.

 

[Link Man]

¿Que?

 

[Manu]

It's actually certain people in my life that do it. It's very irritating.

Wow, that's even worse lol.

On topic: no one here would ever say "huh?", the equivalent would be "eh?" but that's a totally different word.

¿Que?

Actually "¿Qué?"

 

[Nokagi]

Uhh.. huh?

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

In spain we use ¿Eh? that sounds different already, what is true is that is possible for someone here to say uh? and any spaniard would probably understand what they are trying to say.

 

[tino]

Since the Chinese use the word "ma" but not the word "huh" that atomatically makes "ma/mama" the most universal word.

 

[Drazgul]

Everybody in Iceland would understand the meaning of "huh" so the map is nonsense.

Understanding and using a word are two different things.

 

[GarnetDust]

It's even a title to a Chrono Trigger OST.

 

[Krelian]

In spain we use ¿Eh? that sounds different already, what is true is that is possible for someone here to say uh? and any spaniard would probably understand what they are trying to say.

Spanish is among their samples, though.

One of the authors of the study answered some questions on reddit, if anyone's interested.

 

[-Deimos]

Huh isn't a word. That's like saying burping is a word.

 

[Reversed]

Guttural sounds barely count as a word.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Häh?

^

 

[ElectricBlue187]

That's not so universal, people call it Coke, Cola, Coca etc

And it's a name.

who calls it Coca. You made that up.

 

[Miles X]

That's not so universal, people call it Coke, Cola, Coca etc

And it's a name.

Indeed. I said I ran out of coke to a guy and he genuinely thought for a week I meant smack.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

OK is the most universal.

 

[Ishida]

Eh?

We say "Eh?" in Mexico.

 

[Elchele]

'Ok' is more universal.

Never said Huh? in my life.

 

[Gentlemen Demon]

uhhh

 

[Intheflorsh]

'Ok' is more universal.

Never said Huh? in my life.

... But you know what it means.

 

[Broder Salsa]

'Ok' is more universal.

Never said Huh? in my life.

Well you proved them wrong huh